Reviews by hiikeeba:

I stopped in here after a visit to Lynchburg, and Jack Daniels Distillery. My map was crappy, but the place was pretty easy to find. There was a parking garage around the corner so it was pretty easy to park.

It was a gorgeous day so we sat outside. I ordered a chicken strip platter, and my partner ordered a blackened chicken sandwich. The beer selection was limited to six regular beers and one seasonal, or server said. It was a wheat beer. We decided on that. It's a nice hefeweiss, with banana and clove notes that went well on the warm afternoon.

Later, as I walked passed the bar, I noticed there was also a seasonal maibock on tap. Would have been nice to know. I doubt my order would have changed, but still. . .

More User Reviews:

Came to Nashville to see Miss St. play in the Music City Bowl with a bunch of college friends. After the game we went to Big River for dinner and some beers. Great location on Broadway. I was surprised by there beer selection. I think they had six regular beers with one or two seasonal beers. I had a Iron Horse Stout and a 16th Avenue Pilsner. The Pilsner was good but nothing out of the ordinary. The Stout was very good. I typically don't drink Stouts but I was very impressed with this one. Would definitely drink it again.

Last stop on a beer tour of Nashville that started at Bosco's, then Yazoo, Blackstone, and this place. We definitely saved the worst for last. Even by Gordon Biersch standards, the beer was completely lifeless. A local friend and beer neophyte was able to join us for the last two stops on our tour, so we shared our way through a sampler of everything at Blackstone and Big River. As we walked out, even he remarked that the beer at this place wasn't as good. The stout had no body whatsoever and the "IPA" had the color and clarity of a pilsner.

Our server was polite and attentive enough considering the crowd (above average) but wasn't very familiar with the beers (below average) so service overall ranks average.

Food looked like the standard fare, we didn't try it. Probably average chainpub.

If you're looking for an inoffensive place downtown to take the co-workers for after work happy hour, you won't have a bad experience here. If you're looking for good craft beer, go elsewhere.

Good location in downtown Nashville right by the river and near the heart of the goings on. An easy walk from our hotel.

Inside there is ample seating - both for drinks at the bar, and sit down meals. And kid friendly, if that matters to you.

The beers were good to very good. I did the sampler - you get handcuffed at the beginning with some relatively uninteristing lighter options - the lager and pilsner are so-so, but then starting with the golden ale, there was a nice run of easy drinking flavorful beers. The IPA, the brown, the stout, and the octoberfest were all good.

The food was good - we just had lunch, but there was a good variety of meals, sandwiches, and salads. I had the chicken fried chicken just because, and it made for a tasty lunch.

I happen to live downtown, 3 blocks north of Broadway so I have been here more than a handful of times. This was actually the first place I went when I moved down here last Fall because it said it was a brewery and I had no idea it was a chain at that time. I have had some mixed visits, but overall I am pleased with Big River.

Their beer is mediocre at best, except for a few. I loved the Belgian Blonde and the Winter Seasonal Doppelbock; and think their year round stout is pretty solid as well. Other than that I'm not a fan. I have tried a few beers on cask when they offer them, but overall most of their stuff is lackluster. They definitely appeal to the masses (which is a good thing given their location) with a light adjunct lager, pilsner, and other very tame offerings. Almost everytime I go I just get the stout and if the seasonal is interesting I'll get that as well.

The food is bar centric for the most part- except for a few offerings. I actually really like their blue cheese burger, but the hazelnut crusted chicken is where its at. My girlfriend has gotten a meal or two there and said it was just ok, but sticking with either of my 2 meals each time I go- I'm set to keep eating here over and over. I'm not hard to please when it comes to food and this place is pretty on par with other chain restaurants/brew pubs I've been to.

Decor is light during the lunch hours and darker for dinner. A lot of brass and wood. The bar area is a bit too small for a brew pub I feel, but the restaurant as a whole seats quite a lot. It can get kinda loud; but watching a football game there is always fun when everyone is rooting for a certain game. I do think it tries to be more fancy than it is at times, but overall I can't complain. Lastly, the service is also hit or miss. I have had 1 really good server, 1 really bad server, and the rest were alright.

Overall, I feel like this place is hit or miss. They have some great beers and some not so great beers. They have a couple great dishes to eat; and others that I have heard and just ok. They have great servers and not so great servers. It all depends on when you go and what you get to ultimately determine your content with Big River. I will end my review with this main takeaway- I think the most important factor into me going here quite a bit is the location. If it were not 3 blocks from my apartment; then I would NOT go here often... definitely not something to drive to when Blackstone and Boscos or some foodie restaurant are available in Nashville.

We had a business meeting here one night with a group of about 70 or so. We all piled into one of the back rooms to enjoy some beer and food. The atmosphere was okay. This was a large, vacuous place with tall, exposed steel cielings with lots of wood around the place as well. There is zero intimacy but most brewpubs dont offer that anyway.

I was surprised with the selection of beers they had. They had 7 regular beers and two seasonals: The seasonals were a Belgian Blonde and an Irish Red. They also offered a light lager, IPA, brown ale, stout, porter and a pilsner. I thought the Pilsner was the standout beer of the crowd. The IPA was very pedestrian, the stout was a bit boring but had some roasty notes. The light lager was, well, a light lager.

The service was kind of spotty. We found one server who was awesome so we stuck with her most of the night. There were about 5 catering to our party and the other 4 were pretty crappy; long waits for beer, missed orders, etc.

The food was very bar-like and just okay. We had a buffett. The meatloaf was HORRIBLE but everything else was edible.

Located in the dowtown touristy area of town this chain seems to cater to tourist and business clientle.

A large brewpub with brass and wood, the beers are okay but nothing to write home about. I would put the food in that category as well.

At this establishment the server let me glass go empty for quite sometime. At the bar on a Wednesday, that seems odd. I also went without silverwear for about 5 minutes AFTER my food arrived.

What it does well is cater to the folks that don't want honkey talk in the convention area. The beers and food are good, and you can play pool and watch the game. However, if you are looking for GREAT beer, I would head 10 blocks down Broadway to the Flying Saucer.

Started off here on a Saturday night. Chain restaurant type of atmosphere. Service was very good, the waitress was good about recommending beers. She was also nice and friendly. I, of course, had the sampler to start. The Red ale was good, nice and hoppy, the brown was good as well. Overall the beers were typical brewpub beers. Nothing special but drinkable. I thought the food was really good though. I had the cajun shrimp tacos, I think it was a summer offering. Not a bad stop if you are in the area.

Stopped in after having a meal downtown... so I didn't try their food. My wife did order some variation of a bannana split that looked and she said was very good. Nice place with lots of seating. Our waitress was pretty well informed about the beer they had on tap which was pretty impressive to me since most waitresses don't have a clue. I got the sampler for $5.50 which was a good deal and included all of their on tap beers. Their summer wheat was good, they were all solid but nothing that stands out significantly. I would make a point to go back here if I was ever back in Nashville.

First stop of my brew tour to Nashville. Asked to take a tour of the brewery facility, but the brewer was off that day (Saturday). The manager walked me through the facility and answered some basic questions (volume, styles, clientele, etc.). The manager was helpful and courteous.Sat at the bar and ordered the sample tray. Tried all of the house beers on tap. Their Rocket Red Ale was the best of the beers I tried.The location is just across the river from the NFL Titans Stadium. The beers reflect the obvious demands of the clientele; lighter beers with limited appeal. They offer a Light Lager, Pisner and Golden Ale, Brown Ale, Irish Red and Stout. The Irish Red and the Stout were good and the Brown Ale (a GABF Gold in 1998) was okay. Given the location, it would be a good place to stop and eat and have a few pints.

First place I stopped into on this trip to Nashville. Got there around 9pm on a Sunday to find the place mostly deserted. Sat at the bar and was served right away, and the bartender chatted brieflly about football and the days game took as drink order and returned promplty for a food order. I did the beer sampler for 5.50 a great deal as far as I'm concerned. Was not overly impresed by any of the beer offerings but nothing was terrible, settled on a pint of the red rocket ale.. pretty good.

However the food I ordered a chicken and rice dish, was superb, and for only 13 dollars a great value.

I'd be more likley to go back to the place for lunch than anything else, but it wasn't a bad experince, just don't expect outstanding micro-brews.

I really don't have much good to say about this establishment.Don't get me wrong some of their brews are good, but the bar/grill is not impressive at all

I went out last night for my first night in Nashville, took a chance on a recommendation of the resort receptionist. It was busy, so I decided I would just hit the bar for a few rounds and a snack. I sat down next to a nice couple from Oregon, they were not impressed with the pizza, and that the bartender had been fairly inattentive. After sitting there for 10 minutes with no beer and not even a greeting by the bartender, I left.

It was not quite as expansive as Blackstone, but its location at the corner of Broadway and 2nd Street gave it a good bit of space from which to work.

The entryway consisted of a long vestibule on 2nd Street, followed by the m.d.s. on the immediate left. There were a number of high tables and chairs on either side and the bar was an extremely elongated "J"-shape that began at the centerline and wrapped most of the way around on the right-hand side. The left-hand side of the space was predominantly for the servers, especially with the kitchen a wide open space in the centerline, all of the way aft. Coming back around, the right side of the bar was taken up by a Billiards Area with four tables. The back bar fronted the brewhouse and fermentation tanks, so it was hard to go wrong, no matter where I chose to sit.

this place is located at the end of broadway in downtown nashville, right down the street from the famous country music bars of nashville, it is a good beer drinkers escape from the tourist crowds, although you cn still smoke in nashville spots so the smell is distracting, but a good place, they have outdoor seating for beer drinking and people watching.

the kicker about this place is that I went in there looking to buy a pint glass and they were out or did not carry them anymore and the manager came out and was really cool had a long conversation with me about the place and their brewing history and then went in the back and grabbed me two glasses from different brews they had made and gave them to me at no charge, good call.

Located at the end of Broadway past all the music joints and bars so it is within easy walking distance of any downtown hotel. There is a large outdoor seating area off the pub's entrance. As soon as you walk in you see the greeters stand and it also has a small area set aside for tee shirt sales. The bar is a rather large L shape and there is about 25 stools available . For your entertainment there are TVs are above the bar along with 4 pool tables off to the side.

While there was a decent sized crowd, the service was spotty at best. The bartenders didn't have much knowledge of the beers beyond the name and style. There were 6 house beers - light lager, pilsner, red ale, golden ale, brown ale, and a stout. The special beer was an American Wheat which was decent. The other standard beers were quite pedestrian and rather dull. Interesting that most people sitting at the bar were drinking mixed drinks.

Obviously if you are in the area, pop in top try it out. Not overly exciting overall and the beers are average so keep your expectations in check when entering.

Went here for dinner on Friday, just prior to the Music City Brew Off. Quite impressed with the food and atmosphere, but annoyed by the beer selection. Upon walking in, I liked the location and feel: very urban and lofty. The space was set up much like a good loft, but softened up with English Pubhouse-type feel, without the pretentious swankiness. Within the 1.5 hour wait for our table, a bar table opened up that we quickly pounced on--the place was very crowded, which they say is typical for weekend dinner plans. I ordered the sampler to find that all of the 5 standard brews becomming very run-of-the-mill. The 6th beer, seasonal Oktoberfest was a bit better but still a bit of a disapointment. The food menu was stocked with about 100 food option. The pasta jambalaya was terrific. They also have a hazlenut crusted chicken dinner as a stapled feature which was very good. The waiting staff was as accomodating and friendly as expected, but not going on my Christmas card list any time soon. As for the beers, they all seemed quite secondary to the food, with a timid profile on all fronts. Not much wrong with the brewing, but the brews were weak for their styles; assuming that they did that intetionally, not to deter the pedestrian beer orderer. However, it becomes frustration for true beer enthusiests. For two dinners, a sampler, and 4 pints the dinner ran about $40, which I found reasonable.

This place has a great location, right in the busy part of downtown Nashville on Broadway. They have a large, covered patio section outside that looked really inviting, but it was 95+ degrees out when I was there, so I opt-ed for the inside. Large interior, high ceilings. Right when you walk in the long part of the L shaped bar is right in front of you, there is seating all around at the bar and at many tables. They have pool tables, which is key. The actual bar looks of a deep cherry wood color and is very wide and comfortable to sit at.

To the beer. The quality is really good, I was not disappointed at all personally. I felt it was a step above say Rock Bottom-type chain places, but not as good as some of the best places I have been to. They had a 'light' beer, who am I to tell others what to drink, but it kind of made me roll my eyes. They have 6 regular beers, but only one seasonal, two cask handles but only one going. Needless to say they could benefit a lot from a little more variety, there wasn't even a house IPA which I was a little disappointed about, but their red beer was pretty hoppy so it sufficed.

Service was actually pretty good, though not a lot of insight about the beer. Food was solid for a brewhouse, large menu relatively. One thing shocked me as I was leaving, I saw someone come up to the bar, order a Budweiser...and got one. The bartender grabbed one from a little fridge under the liquor behind the bar. Kind of weak for a brewhouse. I just had never seen that at a brewhouse, weird.

Went to Big River while at a Conference in the area. Was rather crowded due to the NCAA Final Four Tourney being on, but we still managed to find a seat in the restaurant and watch a tv off in the distance. Can't miss the games...

Anyway, we ordered a couple of taster sets and were not completely impressed. I enjoyed the red ale and the stout, but nothing that I wanted to order a full pint of.

It is very much the standard brewpub set up. Dark wood everwhere. Bar with the tv's and the 20-something crowd. It was nice to just head in to this place and know I was going to see the same kind of scene I see at home.

The food was good. Had one of their sandwiches and enjoyed it quite a lot. Service was okay, but not out of the ordinary...nothing to rave about. It was a really busy night though, so I would not wanted to be a server that night.

Would be a place I would check out again, but only if I couldn't find another location with some good beer.

RIght on the main strip, and easy walking distance from the Gaylord Entertainment Center, this was an nice way to spend an hour on a Saturday afternoon.
Took a seat at the L-Shaped bar even thought there were several empty tables and booths, and had a nice view of the brewing area.
The restaurant is open, bright and clean. Seems to be more of a family oriented place to eat, as opposed to catering to a specialty beer only crowd. Service was ok, not overly talkative, but friendly enough.
First tried the sampler tray with their six regular offerings for 5$. Served up in oversized shot glasses on a place mat with descriptions of each style, pretty typical presentation. I also noticed several other tables had opted for the sampler.
The selection was a nice range from light to dark, but they really didn't have anything unique or out of the ordinary. Each beer was good, and fit the style, but not a lot of 'wow' factor.
Decided to go for a pint of their "Award Winning" Iron Horse Stout for $4. Menu looked interesting and food looked alright, again nothing that really stood out, but again, assume they are marketing toward the'average' tourist crowd.
It was worth the walk, and the price was right, glad that I had a chance to check it out.

We would rather have gone to Boscos last night, but Big River was within walking distance, so we sauntered by there instead. We visited about 9:00 on a Friday night, and some band was playing right by the front entrance, which was a mark against it in my book. I understand Nashville is called Music City, and that plenty of people like a nice band to go with their meal, but I'd prefer a bit of peace and quiet. (Obviously, if you like live music, you'll be in a different boat than me.)

We were seated at a booth -- when our waiter arrived and took our drink orders, I asked if they had anything available not on the menu. (I was hoping for an interesting seasonal offering, like a Belgian or even a Winter Warmer.) Turns out they were brewing a porter for the season -- I tried to chat with the guy for a second about the beers, but owing to the loud music, I think he saw me as a beer neophyte and tried to suss out what kind of beers I liked. I finally decided to just forget it and order the sampler.

A few minutes later the waiter returns with our drink orders. Like every other place I've seen, the sampler came with a sheet of paper onto which the shot glasses were placed, describing the characteristics of each one. At this point the waiter took our food orders.

And then the waiter pretty much disappeared. For the rest of the evening, we had to flag him down if we wanted anything -- I understand it was a Saturday night, but it still affects the service score. The server may have known his beer (I couldn't really tell), but he didn't know their wines at all -- my fiancee ordered one and had to send him back again with a more detailed request.

So how were the beers? The sampler included all their in-stock offerings, which were:

Southern Flyer Light Lager -- tasted just like your standard off-brand light lager, with the same cruddy aftertaste that you get from a light beer. Reminded me more of Amstel Light or Molson Ice than anything else. Took about three sips and left it there.

16th Avenue Pilsner -- looked more like a Hefeweizen than a pilsner, very cloudy and not transparent at all. Tasted yeasty and had a thick mouthfeel, but lacked any esters or flavor to make up for it on the flavor scale. Had a bit of the grassy notes that you'd expect of a pilsner, but not anywhere close to what I was expecting.

Nashville Steamer Golden Ale -- I can't think of this beer without thinking of the connection to Cleveland Steamer, but for the style, this one was one of the best. Had a bit of sweetness to it, with a creamy mouthfeel; it's actually a decent example of the style. Of course, I'm not a big fan of the style, so it was pretty much a wash.

Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale -- To-style to a T. Pretty decent beer, not too-heavily hopped, with the nutty flavors you'd expect from a Brown Ale. Again, I don't much care for the style, but it was what it was, and those who like Brown Ales will probably like this one.

Thick Brick Red Ale -- They claim this was an amber, but it was really more of an ESB or mild IPA with a darker color. I expect an amber to be very mild, or at the very least to be as fruity and flavorful as it is hoppy, but this was way off-balance. Just don't think of it as an amber and you'll be fine.

Iron Horse Stout -- not a bad stout, but very bland. No real malt presence to the beer, and without much flavor except for the hops. Similar to Bridgeport Stout, but with much less flavor and consistency in the mouthfeel.

Winter's Nip Holiday Porter -- the specialty beer. No real fruit presence, mildly hopped. A bit lighter in the body than the Stout, but otherwise very similar -- this was more like a bock than a porter.

While I was tasting and sipping on these, the food arrived. The steak was decent if a bit overdone on the outside (I like mine medium rare), and the seasoning was a bit milder than I like it. My two sides were steak fries (looked homemade -- tasted more like potato wedges than steak fries) and cheesy mashed potatoes (these were very good and I had no complaints about them). I didn't find it to be a lot of food, however -- my fiancee and I both admitted to still being hungry after finishing our dinner.

Overall, I was very disappointed in the quality here. There really wasn't a single aspect that I'd point to as a selling point for the place, and I am generally not overcritical of restaurants and waitstaff, working in the service industry as I do. The beers overall seemed designed for a mass-market mentality, great if you're serving the general public, but nothing a beer geek should get really excited over. I'm really shocked at the general good reviews this place has otherwise gotten, because I don't plan on going back anytime soon.

(Price at the end was $50.00 including tip. The food was way overpriced, I think, but the one positive here is that the sampler platter with seven beers was only $5.00. So at least I didn't spend a fortune on beer there.)

Had dinner here with some co-workers recently. It's in the middle of downtown, just across from the Hard Rock Cafe. Nice location with a small parking lot in the back. The inside is pretty nice, actually. Plenty of seating and eating room and there is a bar area with pool tables as well. There is an area of the bar, off to the side, where you can view the brewing equipment behind a glass wall. The service was pretty decent with the waiter paying plenty of attention to us to make sure everything was ok. His knowledge of the beer was terrible, though. Me: "This porter is really light colored (it was barely golden)." Him: "Yeah, well, that's because it's a porter. They're all supposed to be that color. I don't like them because they're too hoppy for me. I like the light Pilsner." Um, what? Whatever dude. The food was pretty good. Nice place. The beers were all watered down and very, very weak, averaging about 3.3% abv.

By dumb luck, we arrived in downtown Nashville just as a Titans game was starting. Needless to say, we had a bear of a time finding a parking space. As Big River is within spittin' distance of the stadium, there was nothing available nearby. We ended up parking in an Allright Parking lot several blocks away for $5, which would have gotten us through to the next morning if we'd been so wasted that we couldn't drive and had to sleep on the curb. Fortunately, we were able to safely drive away a couple hours later.

Anyway, the food is really great at this place. There were lots of folks there who weren't even drinking beer, so obviously the place draws 'em in for more than just the beer. I had a hickory bacon burger and my wife had the fried chicken. We were both very pleased.

Before the food arrived, i had the Sweet Magnolia Brown Ale. Excellent. Just the right touch of sweetness, plenty of malt, and a subtle hop finish. Well balanced, flavorful, great session beer to go with just about anything on the menu.

Then, with my meal, i had the Iron Horse Stout, which they proudly proclaim has won several awards at various competitions. Also excellent. And also with a touch of sweetness. A bit more aggressive than American Guinness Draught, not quite as aggressive as American Guinness Extra Stout. Just a good, drinkable stout.

It's worth pointing out that the service wasn't too good. I'm sure they have some good servers, but ours didn't appear to know anything about beer, was stone-faced, and didn't get our appetizer order early enough thus didn't bring it out to us until right before our main courses arrived. But i can deal with subpar service if the food and the beer are good enough.

I will gladly visit again the next time i'm in Nashville.

Side note: another reviewer referenced some of their beers at "3.5% ABV" and "4.0% ABV" etc. The numbers he quoted are from the beer list in the brewpub, which actually lists the alcohol content in *ABW*. So, the Iron Horse Stout, which is listed as 4.5% ABW, is of course 5.6% ABV. And the Sweet Magnolia, which i think was listed at 4.13 ABW, is then 5.16% ABV. It took me a minute to notice the listings were by weight, not volume. Easy to miss.

After talking to multiple people (both from Nashville and out of towners), everyone recommended Big River Grille as the place to go. Place is in a fantastic location - right across from the Hard Rock Cafe and in walking distance from Painter's Alley. Very spacious. The food was fantastic - the meatloaf and mashed potatoes was huge, filling, and delicious. The other four I was with really enjoyed their food as well. Beer selection isn't bad - typical six beers brewed on site. We went on a Monday night and the placed was packed - glad I didn't go over a weekend. Worth the trip.

If you ever go to Nashville, TN, it's worth a stop into Big River. If you are like me and you love brew-on-premises joints, hit up this one. It's worth it. This is a steakhouse TGIF type place, w/out the chach on the walls. A lot of floor meets bar site does ya, nicely, a la big square type building with a front al-fresco patio that I walked by to hurry to the good stuff. The waitress gave me a favorable synopsis about how serious the brewmaster is here; it shows. This review will focus on, of course, the beer. I had the beer-bargain sampler for $4.75!!! with an always welcome placematt representing a spot for each offering corresponding to each beer. You've seen this, right? Anyway, I enjoyed all six offerings and a bonus Winter Seasonal. Here is the beer report:
Light Lager: An expected 3.1% ABV with a malty, piney tone.
Winter: Eh! Lighter than most winters. Not great, not bad.
Golden Ale: Caramely, smooth, balanced.
Brown Ale: Sweet & malty. 1998 Gold Medal winner Great American in Colordo.
Red Brick Ale: ***WINNER*** This is their best brew IMO. A ruby hued, malty, bready soup. Yummy. Best of show. Oh, good lace equals BA brownie points.
Stoudt: 4.5 % ABV. High awl-kee-hawl for Big River. Creamy & dark. What's new?
Pilsner: It's a pilsner, oh, ummm, German.

My waitress rocked. She understood the beer experience, 100%. Last swigs: This is a family friendly, clean, 'all things to all people' type restaurant first, brew-on-premises second, establishment. Beers are food friendly, deserving of a menu to compliment the drink. I prefer beer first type joints. Sometimes these places hope to draw cash from the dinner crowds. No fizzle tho'.